Russia - St Petersburg

Part 4 of 4

St Petersburg is often called the Venice of the North, very similar to Venice, Italy and Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded by Peter the Great and is Russia's second largest city. St Petersburg lies on 42 islands and has over 400 bridges and over 70 rivers and canals. Sunset is around 11:18pm and sunrise is around 4:48am. It doesn't become dark until around midnight, and even then there is still a little bit of light in the sky - this is called the white lights. Amazing it is still daylight at 11pm. Alesia served as our guide for St Petersburg.

After checking in to the Anabel Hotel at Nevskiy 88 we started our tour of St Petersburg. We visited the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - very stunning inside and outside. The exterior design of this church was inspired by the St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Crossing the Neva River, we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cathedral of Peter and Paul. We then had our welcome to St Petersburg dinner at Hunter's House where I was fortunate to be seated in front of a Russia-style guitar. Afterwords, we went on a boat cruise in the canals of St Petersburg and got a nice overview of the city. Around 11:30pm, 3 of us climbed over 260 steps to the dome of St Isaac's Cathedral to enjoy the sunset. It was a real workout - the key is to pace yourself and start slow. In the end, it was worth it for the views of St Petersburg, including the St Petersburg TV tower which looks like the Eiffel Tower.

The next day, we boarded a hydrofoil for an excursion across the Gulf of Finland to Peterhof. A hydrofoil is a boat with a ski-like structure on the bottom - this structure raises the boat above water and reduces drag, allowing the boat to go faster. It is basically a cruise ship that runs like a jet ski. Upon arrival at Peterhof, we visited the Grand Palace. The palace lies behind beautiful fountains. Afterwords, we went inside St Isaac's Cathedral to experience its beautiful interior including a mosaic of Jesus. Then, we visited the inside of Kazan Cathedral - another masterpiece.

The next morning, we traveled to the Imperial Winter Palace to visit the Hermitage Museum, a large gallery of paintings, sculptures, and artifacts from all over the world and from different eras. This museum has the world's largest vase (though it looks more like a bowl). In the afternoon, we traveled to Pushkin to visit the Catherine Palace. The palace was created by Catherine the Great, second wife of Peter the third, and is yet another example of exemplary design on exterior architecture and interior including a ball room and a chess game set. In the evening, we concluded our St Petersburg visit watching a Russian folk show, "Feel Yourself Russian" at Nikolayevsky Palace.

My favorite Russia pictures

Russia - Novgorod

Part 3 of 4 Novgorod is a nice small town with culture. Dimitri (aka Mitri) served as our tour guide in Novgorod. In the morning, we visited the Novgorod Kremlin which surrounds the St Sophia Cathedral. We also saw the Millennium Monument which symbolizes Russia's growth and power.

 In the afternoon, we visited the Yuriev Monastery and then the open air Museum of Wooden Architeture, consisting of wooden izbas (village houses), chapels, and churches. These old buildings have been preserved, inside and outside. Going inside the izbas you get to know how Russians lived long time ago. We also saw a wedding march at the open air museum - wedding marches happen frequently during summer in Russia. We had dinner at Yurievskoe Podvorie, a charming country-style restaurant near the open air museum. The restaurant lies near a garden of wildflowers. During dinner, we got treated to a special surprise Russian folk dance.

After dinner, a group of us went to the beach inside the Kremlin. We walked in the river and people-watch. Though we were in Russia, I felt like it was my USA Independence Day celebration (we were in Novgorod on July 4). We overnighted at the Hotel Volkhov.

Russia - Golden Ring

Part 2 of 4

We departed Moscow in the morning and headed for the Golden Ring, a region of small cities (such as Sergiev Posad, Suzdal, and Vladimir) northeast of Moscow.

We traveled to Sergiev Posad to visit the Holy Trinity Lavra. It consists of 3 cathedrals and is the center of Russian Orthodox Christianity. There is also a flea market place outside the Holy Trinity. We then traveled to Suzdal and had a special dinner with a Russian family. Their home functions as a lodge for visitors and it has a room for hosting large groups. The Russian dinner consisted of salad (with vegetables from their garden), cucumbers dipped in salt water (almost like pickles), mushroom soup, pork with potatoes, apple pastry, and tea. We spent the night in Vladimir, at Hotel Prince Vladimir. The shower unit looks like a spaceship and has several high tech features, though I couldn't figure out how to use them.

The next day we met our tour guide Elena for Suzdal and Vladimir. We explored churches and monsteries in Suzdal. Churches often have 5 domes, representing Jesus and the 4 Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Suzdal is a beautiful country town in Russia and lies along the Kamenka River. At St. Euthymius Monastery, we watched a bell performance. The bell performance consists of a one person orchestra. He uses his hands and feet to control cords connected to the 16 bells. Amazing he could pull it off.

In the afternoon, we went to Vladimir. We visited the Assumption Cathedral and the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate was constructed in the middle of the 12th century and remains the only preserved Russian city gate, though it was modified when reconstructed in the 18th century. Today, the Golden Gate functions as a museum. Visitors can climb 65 steps to enjoy the exhibits and a nice view of Vladimir.

Late afternoon, we traveled back to Moscow to board our overnight train to Novgorod.

Russia - Moscow

Part 1 of 4

I joined a group of 24 people, from Austin and San Antonio, on a trip to Russia.

We arrived at Moscow's Domodedovo airport in the afternoon. We met our tour guide Yulia (Julia in English) and transferred to Hotel Katerina Park. Katerina Park offers free breakfast, free wi-fi, and a free minibar. This is the first hotel I've stayed that offers a free minibar. We then had a welcome to Moscow dinner at a traditional Russian Restaurant and explored Old Arbat Street. In Moscow, sunset is around 10:17pm (which means it isn't dark until 11pm) and sunrise is around 4:47am. Made for some very long daylight.  Moscow is the capital of Russia, and is Russia's largest city with 11.5 million inhabitants. Many people live in country towns outside of Moscow and commute into the city for work.

The next day we started with a panoramic tour of Moscow, visiting the Moscow State University (one of the 7 sisters in Moscow - they have the same exterior shape), World War II Memorial, the Red Square, and the Moscow Kremlin. At the Red Square, we visited the St Basil's Cathedral and then had lunch at the GUM - Russia's largest department store. The exterior design of St Basil's Cathedral fits my initial image of Russia with colorful onion shaped domes. Russians hold their cathedrals in high regard. The main reason for the onion shaped domes is it would allow the snow to roll off instead of becoming stuck on the roofs. Too much snow can damage the roofs due to excess weight. We also got treated to a choir performance at St Basils. It was interesting, if a bit unsettling, to be standing in the middle of the site of many Russia military marchings. We also got to see the changing of the guards. In the afternoon, we visited the Moscow Kremlin including the Czar Cannon (world's largest cannon) and Czar Bell (world's largest bell). Before the bell could be cast, a large hole developed as a result of a fire in 1737, and the bell never rang. We concluded the afternoon at Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In the evening, a group of us had dinner at a nice restaurant/bar/dance place near the river. After dinner we danced a couple of songs. We weren't the best but we enjoyed ourselves. And at least we had the courage to go out on the dance floor.

The next morning we visited the Tretiakov State Gallery, with a large collection of Russian art and artifacts. We then had lunch at My My (pronounced Moo Moo), a cafeteria style Russian restaurant that Yulia recommended. We did a tour of the Moscow subway. Some of the stations, especially the ones built between the 1930's and 1950's, are like art museums with statues, mosaics, and marble floors. Russians are proud of their subway system. Afterwords, we checked out the Izmailovsky Flea Market featuring Russian souvenirs.

My favorite Russia pictures